To Worcester doc, gun buybacks are personal

Saturday

Feb 16, 2013 at 2:00 PMFeb 16, 2013 at 5:00 PM

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

To Dr. Michael P. Hirsh, the local “Goods for Guns” buyback program that has taken more than 2,300 firearms off the streets and out of homes since its inception in 2002 is more than a means of potentially reducing gun-related deaths and injuries.

On a personal level, it is also a tribute to a dear friend and colleague who became an innocent victim of gun violence more than 30 years ago.

Dr. Hirsh, the city's acting public health commissioner, met John C. Wood II when both were surgical interns at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in upper Manhattan in the early 1980s.

The guest speaker at a forum on gun violence held today at the Worcester Public Library, Dr. Hirsh recalled the night that Dr. Wood, whom he described as “a Renaissance man of the late '70s” and a father figure to him, left the hospital to bring his pregnant wife some crackers for her upset stomach.Vowing to return momentarily, Dr. Wood asked Dr. Hirsh to hang onto his trauma beeper until he got back. No sooner had he left than the beeper went off. Dr. Hirsh rushed to the trauma bay to assist the incoming patient.

It turned out to be Dr. Wood. He had been fatally shot through the heart by a 15-year-old boy during an attempted holdup.

Dr. Hirsh, who was instrumental in establishing the Goods for Guns program that is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Wood, was the featured speaker at today's educational forum. The event was sponsored by the newly formed Greater Worcester Coalition Against Gun Violence, a group dedicated to reducing gun violence through education, research and legislation.

About three dozen people attended, including state Rep. James O'Day, D-West Boylston, and a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester.

Goods for Guns provides gift certificates to those who turn in unwanted firearms and has taken in 2,311 weapons in the last 11 years at a total cost of $122,000, less than the cost of treating four gunshot victims, according to Dr. Hirsh, a pediatric trauma surgeon, professor of surgery and pediatrics and active public health and child safety advocate.

The program is a collaborative effort of the city's Health Department, the Worcester Police Department and the office of District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Dr. Hirsh said about 75 percent of the firearms turned in locally are either semiautomatic weapons or handguns.

Participants who respond to a survey and indicate they have additional guns at home are provided counseling about proper gun storage and are given free gun locks.

Dr. Hirsh said the program recognizes the right people have to own guns, but stresses that the right to gun ownership comes with the responsibility to store firearms properly to avoid the risks of injury or theft.

He said 80 percent of the weapons used in crimes in Worcester County are stolen, mostly out of people's homes.

While gun buybacks have not been shown to reduce crime, they do reduce the number of gun-related deaths and injuries, primarily because of the overall efforts of the coalitions that form around them according to Dr. Hirsh. In Worcester's case, the alliance includes the medical and law enforcement communities, the judicial system, and groups such as the Greater Worcester Coalition Against Gun Violence, he said.

Dr. Hirsh said that Worcester's Goods for Guns has become a model program and that he has been called upon to assist in the establishment of similar programs in communities such as Springfield, Hartford and New Haven.

“I see the gun issue from a public health standpoint bigger than I ever did before. We're just on the cusp of rolling this program out regionally and nationally.

“We really think that a national gun buyback day would be a tremendous help,” he said.